Fullmetal Alchemist: The Next Generation
by Piplope
Summary: Edward Elric suddenly disappears on his way to Xing. His wife, Winry, goes off looking for him but doesn't come back either. Their three children, Will, Nina, and Anna are raised by Ed's old teacher, Izumi. But when they're finally old enough go off looking for their father. Will they save him in time?
1. Chapter 1

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Next Generation  
Chapter 1: Meeting the Family

"Come on, up!" Winry shouts. She walks into the nursery, and picks up her youngest, little Anna. The infant squirmed in her mothers arms, upset that she was awakened from her sleep. "I think it's about time we woke up your brother and sister: Will and Nina, eh? They sleep just like their father. " Winry sighs.

She rests Anna on her one arm. And opens up Will and Nina's shared bedroom door.

"Will? Ni-na. It's time to wake up."

"Mmm, five more minutes..." Will rolls over with his feet in the air moans.

"Momma the sun isn't even up yet..."

Winry walked over to the window and slid open the curtain, letting the warm sun shine in the room.

Nina sleepily sat up and rubbed her light blue eyes. Her long blonde hair sat frizzed on her round face. But she slid out of bed and stomped down the steps.  
"Come on, William. You're going to be late for school!" Winry exclaims trying to get her son out of bed. "Your just like your father used to be; sleeping all the time and cranky when you woke him too early. "

Will sat up, letting his golden blond hair cover his dark gold eyes. "Mom, can't I just skip school? Just for today?" He moans.

"No. Your not sick your just tired. You're going to school. " Will moaned, but still tumbled out of bed and followed his younger sister.

Winry bounced baby Ann in her arms. The baby was beginning to wine and was squirmy. Someone wanted breakfast.

Winry stepped out of Will and Nina's room and into the hallway, her bare feet not making any noise on the hardwood floor. At the end of the hall sat her and Ed's bedroom. She knew her husband hadn't come upstairs last night. He and his brother, Alphonse, were off on another journey, learning more about alchemy to help those they couldn't before.

Winry spotted something on the nightstand. While still cradling Ann, she walked over and saw an automail cleaning kit. Winry sighed, and squished her eyebrows together. "Ed... what am I going to do with you..."

Downstairs, Will poured water into the tea kettle so he could make himself some oatmeal, while his younger sister Nina sat pouring herself a bowl of cereal. Milk was always in the house, and the siblings often heard their mother arguing with their father about drinking his milk and setting an example of the children.  
Uncle Alphonse always chuckled when they had a fight like that.

"When do you think dad'll be home?" Nina yawns as she begins eating the cereal.

The kettle screams and William pours the steaming water into a bowl, adds in the dry oats, and then looks on the shelves for some cinnamon. "I dunno. He said he had to go see someone way out in the west. "

"Across the desert?" Nina said surprised. Would her father really make that journey alone?  
"I think Uncle Al might have been with him and Auntie Mai to help guide him but..." Will shrugged and sprinkled cinnamon onto his breakfast before coming to the table.  
Nina and Will's mother, Winry, came down the wooden steps with their younger sister, Ann in her arms and slippers on her feet.  
"Did Daddy call you last night?" Nina asks.

"No, dear. They don't have telephones in the desert; he won't be able to call until he reaches Xing. "  
"Xing? " Will curiously asked. "Why'd he go there?"

"I only have half a mind of what your father does." Winry sighed. She looked to the clock that hung on the wall. "Oh, look at the time! You two are going to be late. Time to get dressed!"

Nina and Will hurried up the steps. Winry slid Ann into the wooden high chair that she had used as a baby. Winry's mother instincts take over as she cleans the bowls, serves Ann her breakfast, and then packs Nina and Will's lunch all before the two clabber back down the steps.

"Have a good day! Do you need me to walk you to school? I can call Miss I-"

"No!" The two said quickly. "No.. we're fine. We can walk to school. Besides you and dad an' Uncle Al used to do it. " Will says as he and his sister walk out the door.

"In a few years, you'll be going to school with your brother and sister." Winry smiled and pinched Anna's nose. "But that's still a few years off."

Meanwhile, Will and Nina walked along the old quiet road to school. They waved at the few neighbors they encountered. Other then that the two siblings didn't talk much.

"Do you think Dad's okay?" Nina whispered to her older brother. The thought bad been nagging her since they left home.

"Yea, I'm sure he's alright. That desert's big. It'll probably take him a week to cross it. He said he'll call when he get's to Xing."

"Why do you think he went to Xing?"

Will shrugged. "I think he said he was meeting a friend. Did you know Auntie Mai was from Xing?"

Nina nodded her head. "She tells me stories about when she was a little girl." Nina stopped walking and lowered her already quiet voice. "She told me she was a princess."

Will chuckled. "Come on, Nina. If Auntie Mai was a princess, why doesn't she live in a palace n' have servants?"

Nina shrugged and began walking again. "Maybe she left that life for Uncle Al..." Nina said, but Will didn't hear her.

Weeks passed. Will and Nina still hadn't heard from their dad who was supposed to be traveling to Xing. Winry began to worry. When Anna woke up in the middle of the night she would take her out to the cool, crisp night and simply stare at the sky.

"It's going to be okay, Winry." Winry's old friend, Panenia came over. "You know how Ed is. He'll be back. He always comes back." She patted Winry on the back before heading back to Rush Valley.

One day, Will and Nina came home to someone who wasn't their mother.

"Granny Izumi?" Will said surprised and slightly worried.

"Don't call me granny, it makes me feel old!" Izumi shouted.

"Sorry, Miss Izumi..." Will corrected himself.

Izumi stood, looking over Will and Nina. She smiled and kneeled down, hugging the both of them.

"How come you're here?" Nina asked. "Is it about daddy?" She whispered.

Izumi looked at both Nina and Will. She smiled to show everything would be alright. "Yes. You're mother is going out for a while. I'm going to stay here and watch you for the next few weeks."

Will and Nina looked at each other, thinking the same exact thing.

Hell was a few minutes away


	2. Chapter 2

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Next Generation

Chapter 2: Years Later

11 Years Later...

"And that'a why we're here today." I say and shove my hands into my pockets. Nina stands next to me and our little sister, quiet Anna stands behind us, peaking behind Nina's arm.

"Could you please let us just stay the night?" Nina pleaded.

"Sorry kids, no money, no stay." The man behind the counter said to us. I could feel the tension in his voice; he didn't care if we spent the night here or not, but he didn't want his boss to get mad at him.

"We can work for our room. We'll wash dishes or-" Nina tried to persuade the concierge. She batted her baby blue eyes.

"Look, I really wish I could, but if my boss finds out I let a bunch of kids stay for free, even if they did tell me a sob story about how their parents have been missing for ten years..."

"Eleven," I quickly corrected. "They've been gone for eleven years."

"Just don't let your boss find out." Nina said.

I put my hand on Nina's shoulder. "Come on, Nina, this guy shouldn't get in trouble for our sake. We'll find someplace else to sleep."

"I'm really sorry, I wish I could let you all stay..." The clerk said. I smiled and waved at him but walked away and out of the lobby.

Outside, Anna tugged at my sleeve. "Will?" She pushes her dark brown hair out of her big golden eyes.

"Yea?"

"Dad had a friend, she came to visit once, and said she lived in Central City."

I raise an eye. "Was it Miss Riza?"

Anna shook her head. "No, she was tall and thin with strawberry-blonde hair."

Nina noticed our conversation and jumped in. "What was her name?"

I thought it was amazing how Anna could remember all of this in that tiny head of hers. "Alecia. Her name was Alecia Hughes."

Nina smiled wide. "Do you know where she lives?"

Anna stopped on the side of the sidewalk and looked up at the clear blue sky. "I think we got a postcard from her once... but it was a really long time ago and I never saw the address."

I saw Nina's back slump over as Anna said those words. "Great, I thought we might be able to spend the night there, or at least she'd know where Mom and Dad are."

"I-I'm sorry!" Anna whispers. "I should have asked Misses Izumi for the letter so I could have read it... I-I didn't know..." Anna puts her chubby hands over her eyes, and I know she's about to run off to cry.

"Hey," I say. I put my hand on Anna's head and with my other arm I grab ahold of Nina's shoulder. "You guys need to calm down. We're going to find Mom and Dad; we didn't run all the way from Resembool and from Miss Izumi to just get stuck in Central, did we?"

Anna took her hands away from her eyes, which had already begun to well up with tears. Nina stood up and nodded. "I think we're forgetting someone who lives in Central." I say now that everyone had calmed down.

"Who?" Anna sniffled. She wiped her teary eyes and then clung to my arm.

I smile and hold Anna's hand and begin walking. Nina hurries up behind us, the two girls curious about who I was talking about.

"I'm sorry," The receptionist at a desk says. "The Fhürer has no open appointments today. You can go home and call to schedule an appointment for tomorrow, or another later date." She suggests.

"Miss, I don't think you understand..." I tell her. Nina sits in the waiting room behind me grumbling. Anna is standing up behind her, braiding her blonde hair. I hadn't told either of them who I was trying to get in touch with. I vaguely remember him coming to visit us once. It was before Anna was born and Nina was still in diapers.

To my left a woman who was older, but trying to hide it, silently walked out of walked out of a conference room, closed the door behind her.

"She'll tell you!" I pointed at the woman. Her dull blonde hair was up in a clip and was wearing bulky glasses.

"Riza, do you know these children?" The secretary asked.

Riza raised her thin hand to her face as she tried to remember our faces.

I walked up to her. "Miss Riza, I don't know if you remember me. It's been a while, but I'm Will Elric; Edward Elric's son." My dad's name comes off strangely on my lips, but he was famous, that much I do know.

Riza's warm brown eyes widened when she made the connection. She looked from me over to Nina and Anna. "Those are my sisters. When you and the Fhürer visited Nina was a toddler and Anna wasn't born yet." Riza had visited us on the Fhürer's behalf a few times, even after Mom and Dad disappeared.

"Will..." Riza said. She looked back at me. "Will, what are you doing here?"

"I need to see the Fhürer."

Riza looks over at the secretary. "They're all right; they can come with me." She says.

For once that day, something goes right.

I take Anna's hand after she ties a hair-band at the bottom of Nina's braid. Nina cuts in front of us and hurries behind Riza. We walk through a maze of hallways and doors until Riza opens up one of them. She leads us into a big office. In the back is a big desk and two leather chairs.

"Wait in here." She says and shuts the door behind us. To our left and right are two other desks stacked high with paperwork. Silently, Anna, Nina and I walk to the leather chairs. Nina sits down in one without saying anything, but Anna looks up at me. I nod to let her know it's okay to sit down. I stand up behind the chairs with a hand on the top of each one.

I wasn't standing very long. A door to my right finally burst open. In the open door stood a tall man. He wasn't relatively thin, though he wasn't overweight. The man had black hair that was beginning to show some grey. His blue eyes had bags and lines under them; this man obviously hadn't slept well, if at all.

"Are you the Elric children?" The man asks. His voice is low and grumbly.

I nod. "I'm Will. These are my two sisters: Nina," I nodded my head over to her. "And Anna." Anna smiled quietly but after looking up into the man's eyes she quickly looked back to the ground.

"You're Roy Mustang, right?"

The man didn't say anything for a moment. He sighed and walked to the large desk in front if us. "Yes. I am Roy Mustang, the Fhürer of Amestris."

Anna looked up at me and whispered something in my ear. "Anna wants to know how you know our dad."

"You mean he didn't tell you?" Roy sounded surprised.

"Didn't tell us what?" I ask. What had Dad been holding out on us?

Roy shook his head. "Now's not the time. What are you three doing here?"

"We have to find Dad." Nina says firmly. She looks into Roy's eyes without blinking.

Roy chuckles. "When your dad was ten he looked at me the same way." He smiles with the happy memory. "I understand you're looking for your dad, though I'm not sure what I can do to help."

"Well," I begin to say, feeling nervous. "I know you were Dad's friend... and that you're now the Fhürer... so maybe you could help us travel and maybe give us a place to sleep?"

Roy got quiet. He folded his meaty hands and rested his head on them to think. It was so quiet in the room that I could hear the clock ticking and Anna's breathing. After what felt like a long time, Roy finally spoke. "I can give you a room to sleep, but I can't lend you any money; in fact when you see your dad tell him he still needs to pay me back."

"Thank you." I smile. We can take any help you need.

"Oh, there's one more thing," Nina said. She scooted to the edge of her seat and looked around for a moment before whispering to Roy. "If you see an older-ish woman, tall, thin, with black hair don't tell her you saw us."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "What is this woman's name? Why exactly are you running from her?"

"Her name is Izumi; she was Dad's teacher, and our caretaker after our parents disappeared." I said and smiled at Nina. Only she would remember to cover our tracks.

"Sir," Riza said from the doorway. I hadn't realized she was here. "Where are these kids going to sleep? We can't just let them sleep in the military apartments."

Roy smiled. "It's alright, they can sleep in our house."

Thirty minutes later the three of us stood in the courtyard of the Fhürer's house. There was a large front porch and fresh flowers in the window. The large double glass doors had curtains hanging in front of them inside. The fence had small torches on them, which were probably lit by the Fhürer himself. Roy took out a ring of keys from his pocket and unlocked the front door. The foyer was quiet, and I could only hear the ticking of a clock. There was a table which was stacked with papers and mail. The house smelled like cinnamon. Roy walked in front of us and Riza was behind. She was the one who urged us inside.

"I've never been in a house so big!" Nina shouted with delight.

Roy chuckles. "Here, I'll lead you to your rooms."

Roy switches on the lights and leads us up the main staircase. There are another set of stairs leading to the third floor, or maybe an attic. To our left and right are long hallways. Roy takes us to the left, and opens his arm gesturing towards the first three doors on the left side.

"Thank you again." I say.

"Eh, it's not like these rooms are being used. Besides, you're Dad's saved my life... I think..." Roy looks at the three of us. "Where are your bags? Your clothes?"

Nina folded her arms. "We ah... didn't bring any..."

"We saw our chance and took it..." I admitted. "We ran until we got to the train... Miss Izumi's probably looking for us already..."

Roy chuckled. "I'll leave you three alone; you probably have a lot to find out."

It wasn't too hard to choose where each of us would sleep. Nina chose the biggest out of the three. I let Anna take the middle room and I took the smallest. We all piled into Nina's rented room to find out what to do next.

"We need to find out where exactly dad was going to in Xing, and what route he took." Anna said.

"I don't even think Mom knew..." Nina sighed.

I nodded. "Mom said she had no idea and only knew he was going to Xing."

Anna sighs. "I'm saying this is what we need to find out, not that we can find out."

"So how are we going to find out, smart one?" Nina asked.

Anna was about to say something, but quickly closes her mouth and looks to the ground. "I... I have no idea where to start."

"Aunt Mai." I say out of the blue. Anna quickly raises her head and Nina's blue eyes shoot to look at me.

Anna smiles wide. "Aunt Mai is from Xing... and Uncle Al was with Dad too! She might have helped Dad find out where he was going!"

I smiled. "You're welcome."

Nina butted in. "Wait, do you guys remember where Aunt May lives?"

Our smiles quickly fade. We hadn't heard from Aunt May for a while. She didn't do much except for give the occasional call on our birthdays. Even when she did, most of the time she got the date wrong.

"She had to have sent us a card... right?" Anna said.

"But all of our mail is at home." Nina fires again.

The three of us sit back, Nina on her bed and Anna and myself on the floor.

"Doesn't she live in Central?" I ask.

Anna looks up. "I remember... she lived in Central for a bit after Uncle Al and Dad left... but then when she realized he wasn't coming back that she should go back to Xing to help out her family."

Nina sighed. "Looks like we have to take a trip across the desert..."


End file.
